


we were perfect

by orphan_account



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, except taeil plays the piano instead of the drums, this is a black swan meets whiplash au, this probably gonna be a little sad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-08-09 00:11:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16439450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Perfection is all about letting go.or the black swan meets whiplash au no one asked for.





	1. Act. 1

 

A spotlight slices Ten in the darkness of the studio, he twirls on pointe and smiles brightly, like he has nothing to worry about, ever. His movements are as gracious as they’ve always been, he’s got balance and rhythm.

He stops suddenly and it’s possible to feel the agony in his expression, the agony of being watched, the agony of doing something wrong and someone seeing him do it. He peers into the darkness and a man emerges in the dark room, he reaches for Ten’s arm and pulls him in.

He’s a demon, and he drowns Ten into the dark.

Ten wants to scream but his vocal chords can’t seem to work properly, he gasps before being swallowed by the demon’s cape.

He’s the White Swan and this is the Swan Lake.

 

 

*

 

 

Ten wakes up in a cold sweat, maybe he’s seeing things, maybe he isn’t, but there’s a pair of red eyes staring at him in the darkness of him bedroom.

They are his own eyes.

As he stares at ceiling of his room he keeps thinking about how he hasn’t made much changes in the place since high school, he’s on his twenties now but his room looks like it belongs to a teenage boy.

The door opens, throwing light to his face, he smiles at his mother and tells her he’ll be up in a minute.

Ten sits with his feet swinging by the side of his bed, like any ballet dancer he looks beautiful, but his feet are atrocious, covered in corns and broken blisters. He arches them, this is merely an exercise.

 

 

*

 

 

The living room is empty so there’s space for him to dance, there’s a large mirror where Ten can watch himself everytime he practices, seek out the mistakes, pick out the imperfections and throw them away.

The boy rubs his knees to warm up and starts his morning exercises, extending and contracting his feet. He takes deep breaths and watches his own chest as it goes up and down everytime, his back contract as he moves.

He looks peaceful, like he knows exactly what he’s doing, like he has total control over his own life.

He stops for a moment when he hears some voices coming from the kitchen.

“I had a dream last night, I was dancing the White Swan.” He tries but receives no answers. “It was a different choreography though, It was the part when Rothbart casts the spell.”

Again he receives no answer and begins to stretch again. When he decides he’s done stretching he grabs his backpack and running shoes before leaving, a quiet ‘bye’ come out of his lips before he closes the door. His mother still doesn’t answer him.

 

 

*

 

 

Ten takes the subway, it’s a normal thing that everyone does, today though it’s specially crowded, he barely has anywhere he can hold on to so he doesn’t fall, trapped as he is he can’t do anything but stare at his own reflection on the window.

Another train passes through and he feels like someone shook him up, in the opposite track, inside the other train, Ten sees a red haired guy, he seems to be singing his heart out while he listens to music on his phone. Ten narrows his eyes to see clearer, on the other side the red haired guy does the same.

Unbothered the boy shrugs it off.

The train finally gets to it’s final destination and Ten can spot the red haired boy running upstairs, he tries to see his face but a crowd of people block his view before he can do so.

 

 

*

 

 

Ten emerges from the subway station into the city, no matter how long he’d been living in Korea it always got to him how different Seoul is from his hometown, a city so busy like this, filled with so many people. It made him anxious yet excited.

He arrives at a the theater where he’s been dancing since he was fifteen and moved to Korea with his family, a few other ballet dancers are also walking towards the entrance and they all look similar; slender, carrying shoulder bags and wearing leggings. Ten smiles to himself as he passes by a row of posters featuring the company’s most well known dancer, Kwon Boa. He stares at the posters with a tinge of envy seeping out before continuing his walk towards the stage door.

 

 

*

 

 

Crammed into the dressing room, Ten and the other dancers prepare themselves for rehearsal. Everyone’s chatting, doing their makeup or whatever. In the background he can hear a two dancers gossiping about Boa.

“She’s back again.” “Yeah, of course. She’s probably dumb or something, the company is broke! No one’s gonna pay to see her again for heaven’s sake!” A sneer like sound can be heard as another dancer enters the conversation “No one comes to see ballet overall, and that’s that.” The two dancers roll their eyes.

“That’s not true, a lot of people come, they just don’t want to come here, that’s all.” “Yeah, the head of the company needs to try something new.” “Something? I think you mean someone.” The dancer snickers at the comment and Ten feels irked at the situation, not knowing if he feels bad for Boa or if he empathizes with Yuta and Sicheng.

His eyes waver towards a new guy standing in the doorway, he pauses and takes a good look at him, he has a whole different aura from everyone else.

“Soloists?” The new guy asks and the dancers look at him in a wary manner, still they nod.

“Awesome.” The same guy comments, sounding little to not impressed at all. He walks towards an empty spot and leaves his bag there. “I got off on the fucking wrong stop, can you believe I actually ran there?” He says, and that’s more than enough to make the other dancers exchange looks, taken aback by his presence. The new guy notices the looks and smirks to himself before starting to stretch.

Ten’s the only one that seems amused by his presence.

 

 

*

 

 

Ten watches carefully as the dancers around him repeat the same moves over and over, the dance instructor watches and tells them what moves they’re supposed to do. Ten watches himself in the mirror, trying to perfect his form, only to be told off by the dance instructor.

“Loosen up, relax your muscles, let it flow and start again.” Ten can feel his face burn with embarrassment, still he nods and tries to follow the instructions given to him.

Out of nowhere all the dancers seem to be taking off their leggings and sweatshirts. When Ten looks up his eyes meet the eyes of Kangta, the company’s director. He looks as intense as he actually is.

Some dancers start to do different routines to show off, the man walks around the room, obviously judging them, some dancers smile and glance at his but he’s unfazed. He goes to the dance instructor and kisses her cheek, it’s the first time she smiles during that day.

“We all know the story,” He begins, loud and clear so everyone can hear him. “a pure girl is trapped inside the swan’s body and she can only break free if she finds true love. As we all know, we’re making a male version of the story this year, but the other news you all aren’t aware of is, I need someone that can be both the white and the black swan this time. If you think you’re up to it you have to do your best.”

Kangta walks around and touches the shoulder of some of their fellow dancers as he finishes his little speech.

“Those I’ve touched can go back to their regular scheduled rehearsals. The ones I didn’t touch can meet me in studio B at five. Not one second earlier or later, be there at five.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i haven't written stuff in a while so i'm using both movie scripts as inspiration lol  
> please let me know if there are any mistakes!  
> xx


	2. Act. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> back at it again at krispy kreme

 

Taeil loves music, he really does, so it’s no surprise to anyone he often finds himself sitting in the dark, playing the piano and singing his little heart out when he arrives a bit too early for his music classes.

The only source of light comes from outside the window, it’s raining and Taeil traces the keys of the piano with his small hands, he plays a note and then another until they start to blur together to make a melody. The room is almost like a cave, it’s soundproof and the piano is placed next to the window where the light comes from. Seated at the piano, his shirt is marked with sweat, eyes looking tired and lonely, that’s Moon Taeil.

He’s on his twenties, honors-student, small built but strong.

Taeil’s playing Tchaikovsky, despite his small hands he moves fast and keeps up with the right tempo. He plays and plays until-

Suddenly, a man enters the classroom.

“I’m sorry.” Taeil sputters and he’s ready to get up and bow to the man but the later stops him from doing so.

“It’s fine, stay there.” He says.

He steps foward and removes his coat, he’s tall and looks like he’s on his thirties. Dressed all in black, Taeil knows who he is, teacher Jungsoo. The room is silent now, despite looking friendly Jungsoo is one of those man whose whisper would scare the shit out of you.

“What’s your name?” “Moon Taeil, sir.” “What year are you?” “Third year, sir.” “You know who I am?” “Yes.” “You know what I do?” “Yes.” “I’m looking for new players, you know that too?” Taeil nods this time, almost afraid to answer. “Then why did you stop playing?”

Taeil smiles, he knows what Jungsoo is trying to tell him so he gathers his energy and stretches his hands before he starts playing again, ‘Moonlight Sonata’ this time. It’s obvious he’s showing off.

“Did I tell you to start playing again?” “I’m sorry, I thought-” Jungsoo interrupts him mid-sentence.

“Show me a cadenza if you think you can.” The younger one nods and starts improvising.

“Can you double-time?” Taeil nods again, not entirely sure of what Jungsoo is talking about since this is improvisation, but he doesn’t question it, he wouldn’t dare to do so. The teacher does nothing but clap, obviously in a faster tempo than Taeil is playing so he tries to keep up.

“I told you to double it.” Taeil tries again, the tip of his fingers ache and he stops playing when Jungsoo stops clapping. It feels like death has come to get him, the way Jungsoo stares at him. Taeil closes his eyes and starts over, he hears the door shut behind him, he stops and looks up. Jungsoo’s gone.

A moment later the door opens again, maybe it isn’t over for him.

“I forgot my coat.” Jungsoo announces before leaving the room, the sense of pride he felt for a second bursts like a bubble and he stares at the piano in front of him.

It’s over.

 

 

*

 

 

Taeil doesn’t know if he has the energy to go to class on the next day but he still does, says good morning to his father and grabs a toast as he throws his backpack over his shoulder.

He hurries off and plugs his earphones onto his phone and allows the sensation of listening to Chopin early in the morning take over him, it’s soothing to the soul he would say if anyone asked.

The buildings of Seoul tower over him like giants.

 

 

*

 

 

After class Taeil always goes to the theater, truth be told he enjoys watching ballet plays when the company allows visitors, he’d always dreamed he’d be able to play at a ballet once.

Taeil watches a ballet dancer from afar, he obviously doesn’t know his name but he’s been there enough to know this dancer is always there, always practicing and always hearing the director say he can’t do it.

He watches as the dancer looks down at his feet in defeat, he knows that feeling well. And when the song starts over and the boy starts dancing again, trying harder this time, he feels like dancing and playing the piano aren’t really so different.

 

 

*

 

 

Taeil’s father picks him up at the theater, he always looks at Taeil with a fond smile but Taeil can see the sadness in the old man’s eyes. He still smiles back though.

“How was your day, kiddo?” “It was fine.” “Yeah? You don’t usually talk about your days, what happened?” Taeil smiles to himself, his father’s always like this, soft spoken yet always worried.

“Well, yesterday I stayed up til late practicing, right?” His father nods, not taking his eyes off the road. “Teacher Park saw me play, he’s looking for people to join his studio band. I want to try it.” “Well you definitely should, you’re the best pianist in the university and I’m not being biased.”

Taeil manages another smile, he reaches for the car radio and a pop song starts, his father looks at him like knows he’s about to analyze every inch of the song and Taeil stops right there.

“I have other options though, right?” “I thought you wanted to play with Mr. Park.” “I do, but I don’t know if he does.” His father takes a deep breath and changes to a traffic news radio station. “It’s his loss if he doesn’t, don’t worry about it.”

Taeil knows where this talk will be heading to if he doesn’t cut it right there, his father will tell him he should worry about other things and that he needs a new perspective. But Taeil doesn’t want a new perspective, he wants to be the best pianist he can, he wants to compose his own songs and sing his own lyrics, he wants to be an artist.

“Sorry for always bothering you with these things kiddo, I just worry sometimes you’ll never find new friends or a partner because all you do is play the damn piano.” Taeil snorts this time. “Thanks for your concern dad.”

They don’t exchange any more words until they get home.


	3. Act. 3

 

Ten’s mother had embraced her love for painting after she was done for as a dancer, he recalls seeing his mother cry one time or two, whispering into the void how she was too old to pursue her dreams now. Damned be the academy that never recognized her talent, her pure and raw emotion she lamented. But things were fine, or they’d be once Ten accomplished the dream she pushed upon him, her son is going to be a star, he has to.

Shaking these thoughts out of his mind Ten goes to the studio determined he’ll do whatever the hell he must do to get the main role in this play.

Hidden behind the curtains he nervously hums the score to the Swan Lake, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath and makes small movements with his hands and feet, the choreography is imprinted on the back of his eyelids, there’s no way he’ll mess it up.

A loud crashing sound snaps him out of it.

Ten goes to the hallway and the sound is coming from one of the dressing rooms, the door is half open and he peers inside, someone’s trashing the whole place.

Suddenly the door swings open and Kwon Boa bursts out of the room, she looks furious. Her red eyes from crying make a brief visual contact with Ten’s worried one’s.

“What?” She asks, almost screaming at him and he just manages to shake his head, he really doesn’t know what to say. She scoffs and slams the door of the dressing room and walks out.

Ten can’t help but be curious so he opens the door and takes a look inside. Boa’s presence is all over the room, photographs, clothes and even makeup all thrown over the place.

Ten looks in the mirror for half a second and imagines how glorious it’d feel if he were the star Boa had been once. His fingers brush against his reflection in the mirror.

_Oh how glorious._

 

 

*

 

 

During his audition Ten dances a song from the Act II of the ballet, he looks terrified. His movements are precise and sharp but there’s still a tinge of vulnerability, exactly as the White Swan should be.

Kangta waves his arm, the music stops and Ten stops too.

The director approaches him and places a hand on his shoulder.

“Are you sure you want to be our Swan King?” “If you choose me, yes.” Kangta leans in close to Ten’s ear and whispers, “If I needed only the White Swan the role would be yours, you know that.” he smiles at the compliment but that smile fades away quickly after Kangta pulls away from him and starts talking again.

“Too bad I’m not looking for the White Swan here, you need to be both.”

Kangta turns around in a swift movement and tells the pianist to start playing again, from the beginning.

“Maestro, Odile’s Coda.” The piano rifles through the song book. “Show me your Black Swan, Ten.” The director says and Ten feels mentally wrecked, he isn’t ready for this. He glances over Yuta and Sicheng, they’re waiting their turn.

He takes a deep breath and looks at the piano player and nods.

The song begins.

Ten dances a few steps and launches himself into the most difficult part of Swan Lake, 32 consecutive fouettes, that’s the Black Swan’s Coda.

“Don’t be so controlled.” Kangta says, it’s barely audible, Ten isn’t paying much attention to that, he’s worried he’ll mess it up, the song’s too intense and he pushes himself into the next turn. Kangta keeps yelling, telling Ten to let himself go, to be seductive yet show he can be aggressive, the director runs his hands through his hair, Ten isn’t listening.

A look of worry blooms over Ten’s face and he falls apart, only a few spins short of finishing. He sees a familiar person sitting in the auditorium, it’s that guy, the one with the red hair he’d seen singing in the subway the other day. It seems the other boy has noticed him looking so he sinks down on his seat.

“I didn’t know people were allowed to watch our rehearsals.” Kangta furrows his eyesbrows at Ten’s comment, he then looks at the auditorium and sees the boy.

“I’m sorry,” the boy says “I didn’t know- I shouldn’t have come- I’m sorry.” Kangta waves him off but not without questioning him.

“Who are you?” “My name’s Taeil, I’m a pianist. I’m sorry.” “Stop apologising so much kid. And get out of here before I lose my patience.” The boy bows to him and leaves running, it’s suddenly very quiet until the door clangs open, it’s that new guy Ten had seen the other day.

“You decided to join us, huh?” Kangta asks and the boy takes off his earphones, the loud music can be heard from them. “Sorry.” He says and turns his music off before starting ro stretch.

“Guys, this is Taeyong. He’s filling Jaehyun’s old spot.”

Taeyong waves and Ten’s gaze are fixated on him.

“Get warmed up.” Kangta orders “I already have.” Taeyong responds without much enthusiasm. He takes off his hoodie and Ten’s still watching him, he has tattoos on his back and his ballet clothes are all black, he looks intimidating as the Black Swan should be.

“Should I go again?” Ten blurts out and earns a few laughs from the other dancers. “I’ve seen enough, thank you.” He looks down, he knows what Kangta means when he says that. He’s furious as he walks out of the room.

In the bathroom stall he sits and cries, it’s a foreign feeling, it’s like his throat is closing in and for once he doesn’t bother retouching his makeup as he leaves. To make it better he stumbles on someone.

“I know you! You’re that guy, the pianist.” “Yep, sorry about that.” Ten seems confused for a minute. “Did you get in trouble because I distracted you? I’m sorry, I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to watch.” Ten sighs, he wants to pour the blame all over this boy but he knows it’s his own fault he fell.

“The Coda’s is just hard, but yeah, your red hair does attract a little of attention.” The boys laughs. “As long as it’s your attention I’m attracting that’s fine.” Ten smiles and they fall in a spiral of awkward silence, Taeil barely processing he just flirted with someone, that someone being a total stranger.

“I’ll be on my way out before anyone catches me here, good luck with the dance and all that.” Ten feels some sense of comfort for the first time on that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi again folks  
> taeil and ten finally met!  
> it'll probably take me a while to update again   
> see ya xx


End file.
